Withdrawal Bill ‘contents are alarming’

Giving evidence to the House of Lords Exiting the EU committee on Monday, Mr Barclay had initially said he did not believe exit forms would be necessary for trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

But he later conceded: “The exit summary declarations will be required in terms of NI to GB.”

The minister’s admission came after questions from Labour peer Lord Wood, who later tweeted: “This revelation confirms two things:

The GB-NI border inside the UK will, from a commercial point of view, feel like a real border.

The Govt is trying to push through a vote on the deal before the text of the Withdrawal Bill is seen for a reason: the contents are alarming.”

“What’s astonishing is that firstly the Brexit minister didn’t really know the answer and when he checked or was given notes from his officials, the answer became clear,” Lord Wood told BBC News NI.

“Actually Northern Irish businesses are going to be required to fill out exit declaration forms – that’s forms for every item they ship into Great Britain – and similarly Great Britain companies shipping into Northern Ireland.

“So from a commercial point of view, there is going to be a new border – not in a nation state sense – but a commercial border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.”

Democratic Unionist Party MP Sammy Wilson said the plan represented a “clear breach” of previous commitments made by the government.

European Commission rules state exit summary declarations are needed when goods leave the EU’s customs territory, but regular customs declarations are not required.

Image caption
Most of the changes in the revised deal are to do with the status of the Irish border after Brexit

According to the government risk assessment, published on Tuesday, the costs of new checks and administration may affect the profitability of businesses trading to and from Northern Ireland.

“Due to data limitations around the number and nature of consignments of goods being moved from GB to NI, it is not possible to estimate the associated administrative burden on businesses,” it said.

It adds that HM Revenue & Customs has estimated that for trade between the UK and the rest of the world, the administrative cost of customs declarations ranges from £15 to £56 per declaration.

But it cautions that it may not be possible to translate the same estimates to GB to NI trade.

On the issue of exit declarations, the risk assessment states: “Some practical information will need to be provided electronically on movement of goods,” but due to “data limitations” it has not been possible to estimate the associated costs to business.